Once again, Windows is screwing me over.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2003-02-27 09:51pm

Yes, our good old friends at Microsteal-err,'MicroSOFT'

, have created a system which even I cannot penetrate.
I'll get right to it: My computer is as silent as the audience at Hot Chick.
No folder sounds, no game sounds, no mp3 sounds, etc etc. I fully inpsected the speaker's, and was assured that they were indeed functioning correctly.
Still, no indications of what might be wrong. (Typical of windows).
BUT, here is a something about it: the sound on the first SimCity worked.

I was bored and decided to dig up some of my old discs, inserted it in my drive, and, waa-lah! I am greeted by the sounds of techo-hop-whatever it was.
Now, NO other sounds on the computer worked, be they games, interface sounds, etc etc.
But the orginal SimCity did.
So my question is: Is this a problem with the Windows software, and if it is, how can I fix it?
And please explain it in clear terms, as I have never been a power-user of the Windows OS, nor I am well versed in it's lore.

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2003-02-27 09:53pm

IIRC, SimCity used the PC speaker for sound, so that would lead me to believe its a speaker/sound card issue. However, you say music CDs work fine... hmm... I'm not a multimedia person, but I'd still put money on it being a sound driver problem. Get DirectX 9 and your latest drivers, see if that helps.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2003-02-27 09:59pm

JediNeophyte wrote:IIRC, SimCity used the PC speaker for sound, so that would lead me to believe its a speaker/sound card issue. However, you say music CDs work fine... hmm... I'm not a multimedia person, but I'd still put money on it being a sound driver problem. Get DirectX 9 and your latest drivers, see if that helps.

No, music CDs do NOT work fine. Where did I incidcate that?
and I'm pretty sure I have Directx9 already, although not positive.
And you see, I don't have a PC speaker build into the monitor, the only sound comes from my two small speakers that plug into my PC tower.
So the 'because Simcity used the PC speaker' theory won't work either.

Man, if it weren't for the games, I would just dumb Microshit and Winblows.

Phil Skayhan · Post by **Phil Skayhan** » 2003-02-27 10:31pm

On your "Advanced" audio controls, is "Digital Output Only" enabled?

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2003-02-27 10:38pm

Phil Skayhan wrote:On your "Advanced" audio controls, is "Digital Output Only" enabled?

I'm using WindowsXp.
Where would these controls be located?

Phil Skayhan · Post by **Phil Skayhan** » 2003-02-27 10:50pm

Double click the little speaker symbol on the taskbar.

You should see the "Advanced" button beneath the main volume slider.

And might as well just check all your settings while your there.

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2003-02-27 10:57pm

I was bored and decided to dig up some of my old discs, inserted it in my drive, and, waa-lah! I am greeted by the sounds of techo-hop-whatever it was.

Did I miss-interpret that?

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2003-02-27 11:09pm

JediNeophyte wrote:
I was bored and decided to dig up some of my old discs, inserted it in my drive, and, waa-lah! I am greeted by the sounds of techo-hop-whatever it was.
Did I miss-interpret that?

I inserted the SimCity disk, and it played some weird electronic hop.
And the speaker icon ain't in the taskbar.

....
....
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DAMN YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! I HATE WINDOWS! AARGGH!
....
....
Ok, I'm cool now.

Could someone just please give me step-by-step inscrutions on how to get there? Windows XP is brand new to me.

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2003-02-27 11:45pm

OK, sorry about that. I don't know your exact configuration (I always have everything set as Win98ish as possible), but you should be able to to "Start", then "Settings", then "Control Panel. Now find "Sounds and Audio Devices." Check through all the tabs and make sure all the volumes are at reasonable levels. Under the "Audio" tab, make sure a device is selected for sound playback and MIDI playback. Depending on your soundcard and software, you may have a soundcard-specific audio configuration utility as well. It may be in Control Panel or buried somewhere else, but if you can find it, look through that too.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2003-02-27 11:56pm

Also you might want to make sure your sound card is seated on the motherboard correctly. Mine wasnt seated correctly, and it generated corrupted sound in a few games (music worked however). Nor did the upgrade drivers detect the thing till I pulled it out of the computer & replugged it in.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2003-02-28 12:58am

Ok, it's working now.
Thanks guys.